X-Men

Created by Roy Thomas, Len Wein, and John Romita Sr., Wolverine is a fierce Canadian mutant known for his animal-like senses, enhanced physical abilities, a remarkable healing factor, and three retractable claws in each hand.

But I’m sure none of this is new to you. After all, Wolverine is one of the most iconic X-Men—one of the coolest characters in the franchise—who captivated readers and secured his place in pop culture with his unforgettable role in X-Men: The Animated Series and Hugh Jackman’s portrayal in the X-Men movie franchise. He’s also the only X-Men character to have maintained a solo comic series consistently since his debut in 1988.

Over the years, many writers have written celebrated stories for the character, from Claremont and Miller’s first mini-series to Barry Windsor-Smith’s Weapon X, Jenkins’ Origins, Millar’s Enemy of the State, and more. Today, we take a closer look at Jason Aaron’s run on the iconic mutant, written before his epic run on Thor. It’s hard to think of Jason Aaron’s time at Marvel without Wolverine, as his journey started after winning a writing contest, which helped launch his significant run on the character.

Read More »Wolverine by Jason Aaron Reading Order Guide

Our exploration of the ever-expanding world of the X-Men comics is continuing. The following reading guide covers the comic books published between 2012 and 2019, before Jonathan Hickman’s House of X/Power of X. This era includes major events like Battle of the Atom, The Trial of Jean Grey, AXIS, The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier, Death of Wolverine, Inhumans vs. X-Men, the Terrigen Mist Crisis, Apocalypse Wars, Civil War II, Phoenix Resurrection, Hunt for Wolverine, and Extermination.

After the event of the Avengers vs. X-Men crossover event and the relaunch of the Marvel Comics Universe under the banner “Marvel NOW!,” most X-Men titles were either concluded or restructured. Wolverine and the X-Men continued, while All-New X-Men was launched, featuring the original five X-Men—brought to the present day by Beast—who eventually formed a separate team under the leadership of Kitty Pryde. Astonishing X-Men also continued but was later canceled, and in its place, Amazing X-Men was launched, initially focusing on the return of Nightcrawler. Meanwhile, Uncanny X-Men was relaunched with Cyclops leading a faction of mutant revolutionaries.

Then the All-New, All-Different Marvel era introduced a major relaunch for X-Men comics following Secret Wars (2015). This era was defined by the Terrigen Mist crisis, which made Earth inhospitable for mutants, leading to tensions between mutants and Inhumans. Many X-Men went into hiding, while others took a more aggressive stance to protect mutantkind. And finally, the ResurrXion era, a soft relaunch of X-Men comics following Inhumans vs. X-Men, marked the end of the Terrigen Mist crisis and was focused on the mutants rebuilding their future.

This is Part #5 of our tentative to compile a comprehensive X-Men Reading Order using the collected editions–You can find the first part here (The Silver Age & Chris Claremont, 1963-91), the second part here (Age of Apocalypse & Onslaught, 1991-2001), the third part here (From the Grant Morrison era to Civil War), the fourth part that leads us to Avengers Vs. X-Men, and the sixth part here.

This is a massive reading guide, so here is a menu to help you navigate. Some parts are under construction for now. I’ll keep updating this article regularly.

Read More »X-Men Reading Order, Part. 5: Marvel NOW, All-New, All-Different Marvel & ResurrXion (2012-2019)

This is Part #4 of our tentative to compile a comprehensive X-Men Reading Order using the collected editions – You can find the first part here (The Silver Age & Chris Claremont, 1963-91), the second part here (Age of Apocalypse & Onslaught, 1991-2001), and the third part here (From the Grant Morrison era to House of M).

In 2007, the “Messiah Complex” storyline redefined the world of the mutants, first with the destruction of the Xavier Institute, then with the disbanding of the X-Men. This time, X-Men was renamed X-Men: Legacy. That said, The X-Men reformed in Uncanny X-Men #500.

More major events follow with “Messiah War”, the new New Mutants volume, “Second Coming”, the new series Young X-Men and Generation Hope, and more. Later, there was  “X-Men: Schism” that led to “Regenesis” and the new main series titled Wolverine and the X-Men.

This is a massive reading guide, so here is a menu to help you navigate. Some parts are under construction for now. I’ll keep updating this article regularly.

Read More »X-Men Reading Order, Part. 4: The Messiah trilogy, Dark Reign, Schism, Avengers Vs X-Men (2007-2012)

Welcome to Part. 3 of our Comprehensive X-Men Reading Order Guide using the collected editions. The X-Men enter the Modern Era with the help of Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Chris Claremont, Joe Casey, and more! After the chaotic ’90s, the mutants needed a fresh start, or a real revolution. The one that just happened with Chris Claremont’s return on the franchise didn’t pay off and was poorly received by X-Men fans.

After having revamped the JLA at DC Comics (while also creating the creator-owned series The Invisibles), Grant Morrison moved to Marvel Comics at the start of the 2000s, where the Scottish writer soon tackled another major superhero team: The X-Men. New Concepts, new villains, new disasters. Simply put: New X-Men. Morrison made so many drastic changes to the franchise that this period became known as the Morrison era. This is one of the most celebrated and divisive runs on the X-Men, redefining and influencing the mutant world for years to come.

During that time, Chris Claremont was in charge of the new X-Treme X-Men while Chuck Austen wrote Uncanny X-Men, one of the most panned mutant runs. The X-Men franchise was also less stretched than usual, with no official major crossovers and only a few limited spin-offs. However, the world of X-Men will be poorer if there weren’t some short-lived solo series and other fondly remembered team books.

Read More »X-Men Reading Order: The Modern Era (2001-2005) – From Grant Morrison to House of M (Part. 3)

This is Part #2 of our tentative to compile a comprehensive X-Men Reading Order using the collected editions – You can find the first part here (The Silver Age & Chris Claremont, 1963-91). Now, it’s the ’90s!

A new decade full of events. Yes, it’s when Marvel almost perish under the weight of its commercial ambitions and gave us too many events and series to follow. For the mutants, it was a period of big storylines, some of them became iconic, others are almost forgotten today. But first, there was the launch of a new X-Men series. Xavier and the original X-Men are back. As a result, we got two teams, two books: Storm’s “Gold Team” (in The Uncanny X-Men) and Cyclops’s “Blue Team” (chronicled in X-Men). Also, new spin-offs joined the line-up: X-Force, Generation X, and numerous solo series like Deadpool, Cable, Bishop, X-Man, and Gambit. At one point, Excalibur and X-Factor ended and the latter was replaced with Mutant X.

This is a massive reading guide, so here is a menu to help you navigate. Some parts are under construction for now. I’ll keep updating this article regularly.

Read More »’90s X-Men Reading Order (1991-2001) – Part. 2: Fatal Attractions, Age of Apocalypse, Onslaught, Zero Tolerance, and more